What to recommend to a family friend? Med school v pharmacist

[wamcp]

I have a pharmacist buddy who did 4 yr pharm school, two 1yr residencies and now works in a hospital 1.5 hour drive from the center of a major city (it’s a rural location essentially). Fortunately he had parents pay for school so has no debt. I am however...shocked when he told me his pay is $57/hr.
Meanwhile, I did 4 yr med school, 3 yr residency and have been in practice as a hospitalist. For fun I called up his exact hospital to inquire about moonlighting opportunity and they actually have a full time hospitalist opening that pays 200/hr (requires icu coverage though)...

what is up with the discrepancy? Is pharmacy school + work that much more chill vs becoming a physician, to justify the pay gap despite having similar training years? Does pharm school cost less?

i have a family friend entering undergrad and asking my opinion on MD vs pharmD. I can only give my n=1 perspective, anything I can know about the pharm side of things?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Pronounce Doxazosin]

Most pharmacist job do not require 2 years or residency so you are really comparing 4 years of pharmacy school vs what is required to practice medicine

 

[Marzapan]

I have a pharmacist buddy who did 4 yr pharm school, two 1yr residencies and now works in a hospital 1.5 hour drive from the center of a major city (it’s a rural location essentially). Fortunately he had parents pay for school so has no debt. I am however...shocked when he told me his pay is $57/hr.
Meanwhile, I did 4 yr med school, 3 yr residency and have been in practice as a hospitalist. For fun I called up his exact hospital to inquire about moonlighting opportunity and they actually have a full time hospitalist opening that pays 200/hr (requires icu coverage though)...

what is up with the discrepancy? Is pharmacy school + work that much more chill vs becoming a physician, to justify the pay gap despite having similar training years? Does pharm school cost less?

i have a family friend entering undergrad and asking my opinion on MD vs pharmD. I can only give my n=1 perspective, anything I can know about the pharm side of things?

It's not just a joke or exaggeration that pharmacists are "glorified pill counters" or "doctors of Lexicomp" and very much an exaggeration that pharmacists are "the drug experts." The ramifications of that is demonstrated in pay, respect others have for the profession (or lack thereof), poor working conditions etc. You shouldn't be equating years of training to "societal value" anyways -- because if that were the case then someone with a PhD in music should be earning much more than someone with a bachelor's in engineering.

 

[Chrish]

Troll thread..

 

[lord999]

If they can get into medicine, they should go for medicine if the work perception is equivalent. It's not, physicians work harder and longer as a generality, but are compensated more for the trouble. And by generality, I'm not talking about the pharmacist who owns their pharmacy and works 60 for a $500k or the physician that does 24 hour PT hospitalist work at $120k, I mean the majority and medians.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Medicine, I guess. Honestly, most healthcare workers are pretty miserable.

The happiest people I know are all on disability. I suggest they figure out how to get on that. Then they can spend theirr days doing what they really want. Which, and do assure them, isn't the daily grind of pharmacy or medicine.

That said, I like my job. Night shift at CVS. Just me alone with the drugs for the majority of the shift. My job isn't a soul crushing, anxiety ridden hellscape that most of my retail brothers experience. It's more of a marathon slog against sleep deprivation and monotony. Which, for whatever reason, I'm rather adept at.

 

[deleted562805]

I have a pharmacist buddy who did 4 yr pharm school, two 1yr residencies and now works in a hospital 1.5 hour drive from the center of a major city (it’s a rural location essentially). Fortunately he had parents pay for school so has no debt. I am however...shocked when he told me his pay is $57/hr.
Meanwhile, I did 4 yr med school, 3 yr residency and have been in practice as a hospitalist. For fun I called up his exact hospital to inquire about moonlighting opportunity and they actually have a full time hospitalist opening that pays 200/hr (requires icu coverage though)...

what is up with the discrepancy? Is pharmacy school + work that much more chill vs becoming a physician, to justify the pay gap despite having similar training years? Does pharm school cost less?

i have a family friend entering undergrad and asking my opinion on MD vs pharmD. I can only give my n=1 perspective, anything I can know about the pharm side of things?

Pharmacy school costs about the same as Medical school. The work is not that chill even though it is not as stressful as Physicians.

Pros for Medicine and Cons for Pharmacy

1. It is more stressful to find a job as a pharmacist compared to physician. There are more job postings for doctors than pharmacists.

2. It is more difficult to get a pharmacy residency compared to a medical residency.1200 Applicants are applying for 300 programs and each of these programs have at the minimum 3 spots and at a maximum of 6 spots. There is no standardized exam to thoroughly evaluate applicants unlike medical residency. There are more seats in each medical residency program compared to pharmacy residency programs.

2a. Medical residents have more perks than pharmacy residents. They have their own suite connected to the hospital where they can be on call. They have food catered to them. They have a month to do research. They get paid extra for moonlighting. Also, they are independent from day 1 and report to third year residents. Pharmacy residency is like P5 year. Some preceptors foster some independence but not like medical residents. They do not get paid extra in most programs for moonlighting. Pharmacy residency programs put a lot of focus on projects on top of patient care. And pharmacy resident has a small break room in the basement

3. Pharmacy residency program of one to two years does not guarantee a job nor does it increase their pay compared to a new grad. Unlike medical residency/fellowships.

 

[TranslationalRPh]

I have a pharmacist buddy who did 4 yr pharm school, two 1yr residencies and now works in a hospital 1.5 hour drive from the center of a major city (it’s a rural location essentially). Fortunately he had parents pay for school so has no debt. I am however...shocked when he told me his pay is $57/hr.
Meanwhile, I did 4 yr med school, 3 yr residency and have been in practice as a hospitalist. For fun I called up his exact hospital to inquire about moonlighting opportunity and they actually have a full time hospitalist opening that pays 200/hr (requires icu coverage though)...

what is up with the discrepancy?

Personally, I am aware of no pure pharmacy plays that make 2-4x that of a retail, hospital, or clinical pharmacist. More often than not, a pharmacist in the salary range of a hospitalist is not practicing pharmacy in the traditional sense or at least not exclusively practicing pharmacy.

 

[mentos]

Just look at what happened during the Covid peak. Many pharmacists had reduced hours or had to be reassigned to different roles to find work to do, while physicians and nurses were paramount.

 

[radio frequency]

Pharmacy school costs about the same as Medical school. The work is not that chill even though it is not as stressful as Physicians.

Pros for Medicine and Cons for Pharmacy

1. It is more stressful to find a job as a pharmacist compared to physician. There are more job postings for doctors than pharmacists.

2. It is more difficult to get a pharmacy residency compared to a medical residency.1200 Applicants are applying for 300 programs and each of these programs have at the minimum 3 spots and at a maximum of 6 spots. There is no standardized exam to thoroughly evaluate applicants unlike medical residency. There are more seats in each medical residency program compared to pharmacy residency programs.

2a. Medical residents have more perks than pharmacy residents. They have their own suite connected to the hospital where they can be on call. They have food catered to them. They have a month to do research. They get paid extra for moonlighting. Also, they are independent from day 1 and report to third year residents. Pharmacy residency is like P5 year. Some preceptors foster some independence but not like medical residents. They do not get paid extra in most programs for moonlighting. Pharmacy residency programs put a lot of focus on projects on top of patient care. And pharmacy resident has a small break room in the basement

3. Pharmacy residency program of one to two years does not guarantee a job nor does it increase their pay compared to a new grad. Unlike medical residency/fellowships.

And this is why I didn’t do a pharmacy residency. If I had to do it over I would have applied to medical schools instead. Better job outcomes. I would probably get over the touching people part eventually.

 

[deleted562805]

And this is why I didn’t do a pharmacy residency. If I had to do it over I would have applied to medical schools instead. Better job outcomes. I would probably get over the touching people part eventually.

Forgot to mention one other thing.
ASHP mid year is jamming 25,000 of Pharmacy students into one conference building with all of them close shoulder to shoulder begging to talk to a RPD, resident, or Pharmacy director. Very high stress level, very grandiose. If a program likes you, you get invited for the reception which you are provided with drinks and finger foods.

Medical residency fairs are more low key than Mid year. They don’t jam pack tons of medical students into one conference building because each speciality has their own residency fair. It is still has the high amount of stress when interviewing with programs. Also, if a program likes you, though get to wine and dine with the PD, current residents, and other associate medical faculty.

Local medical residency programs tied to each medical school like Mass General just does a show case in Harvard

Also the quality of research projects created by medical students and even medical residents are higher than pharmacy residents and pharmacy students. Medical research projects are more about patient care though there is some projects catered to physician/resident burnout. It a just less of academia surveys and resident burnout.

Most research projects from pharmacy residents and students are all about burnout of pharmacy students and residents. Hardly any clinical research, very less compared to when I graduated

 

[rxkrafted]

what did you expect the pharmacist to get paid lol? 57/hr is actually amazing right now, especially since he doesn't have any student loans!
you can get into pharmacy school without a PCAT score and even < 3.0 GPA.... what did you expect your average pharmacist to get paid?

 

[wamcp]

Medicine, I guess. Honestly, most healthcare workers are pretty miserable.

The happiest people I know are all on disability. I suggest they figure out how to get on that. Then they can spend theirr days doing what they really want. Which, and do assure them, isn't the daily grind of pharmacy or medicine.

That said, I like my job. Night shift at CVS. Just me alone with the drugs for the majority of the shift. M job isn't a soul crushing, anxiety ridden hellscape that most of my retail brothers experience. It's more of a marathon slog against sleep deprivation and monotony. Which, for whatever reason, I'm rather adept at.

Is it easy to get a night shift job like that as a pharmacist? Do you get downtime for over half your shift i.e. able to watch TV or games etc

My own perspective i’ve given to my family friend is as a hospitalist, doing nights is always in demand and from my n=1 I have at least 6-8 cumulative hours (on avg) of free time out of each 12 hour shift to do whatever I want in my call room. Heck I watched the entire season 1 of The Terror on Friday at work. Are pharm nights even better than this?

 

[wamcp]

what did you expect the pharmacist to get paid lol? 57/hr is actually amazing right now, especially since he doesn't have any student loans!
you can get into pharmacy school without a PCAT score and even < 3.0 GPA.... what did you expect your average pharmacist to get paid?

I honestly thought pharmacists would get 100/hr in a rural place that my friend works at. Like does that mean urban pharm jobs pay even less than his 57/hr?

There is a geographic premium for physicians in general - I could work at his podunk nowhere hospital at 200/hr as a hospitalist whereas for my current job in a big city suburb is 170/hr

 

[Marzapan]

I honestly thought pharmacists would get 100/hr in a rural place that my friend works at. Like does that mean urban pharm jobs pay even less than his 57/hr?

There is a geographic premium for physicians in general - I could work at his podunk nowhere hospital at 200/hr as a hospitalist whereas for my current job in a big city suburb is 170/hr

Pharmacists are also the only "healthcare professionals" who have to clarify how many hours they get when they interview for a job. So half the time salary conversations are not even comparing apples to apples. Are there pharmacists making $70+/hr (say, in a HCOL area)? Sure. But a lot of them are also only getting 20-32 hrs/week. The bottom line is that most pharmacists will be averaging a $25-30hr x 40 hrs/week pay rate across the board within the next 5-10 years due to saturation if they can even find a job, and automation, AI and the inability to differentiate your services from those of a $10-15/hr pharmacy technician is what has doomed this profession. Those who make more than $30/hr will be either the unicorns, in management or not practicing pharmacy in the "mainstream" sense.

 

[rxkrafted]

I honestly thought pharmacists would get 100/hr in a rural place that my friend works at. Like does that mean urban pharm jobs pay even less than his 57/hr?

There is a geographic premium for physicians in general - I could work at his podunk nowhere hospital at 200/hr as a hospitalist whereas for my current job in a big city suburb is 170/hr

lets just say retail usually pays better... and they start off new grads at low 50s at major chains. Usually in a hospital setting, they'll start pharmacists off upper 40s/low 50s but that is slowly starting to change since our job outlook from BLS is now at -3% growth...

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Is it easy to get a night shift job like that as a pharmacist? Do you get downtime for over half your shift i.e. able to watch TV or games etc

My own perspective i’ve given to my family friend is as a hospitalist, doing nights is always in demand and from my n=1 I have at least 6-8 cumulative hours (on avg) of free time out of each 12 hour shift to do whatever I want in my call room. Heck I watched the entire season 1 of The Terror on Friday at work. Are pharm nights even better than this?

We used to have a lot of down time. Then CVS made a bunch of cuts to "optimize" their manpower levels. So I walk into a madhouse every night and get it caught up just in time to start working on 200 automatic refills that drop at midnight. You are given enough work that you have pretty much zero downtime now. But that's fine. I can listen to podcasts while I work. It's not bad.

 

[FoodstampPharmacist]

I have a pharmacist buddy who did 4 yr pharm school, two 1yr residencies and now works in a hospital 1.5 hour drive from the center of a major city (it’s a rural location essentially). Fortunately he had parents pay for school so has no debt. I am however...shocked when he told me his pay is $57/hr.
Meanwhile, I did 4 yr med school, 3 yr residency and have been in practice as a hospitalist. For fun I called up his exact hospital to inquire about moonlighting opportunity and they actually have a full time hospitalist opening that pays 200/hr (requires icu coverage though)...

what is up with the discrepancy? Is pharmacy school + work that much more chill vs becoming a physician, to justify the pay gap despite having similar training years? Does pharm school cost less?

i have a family friend entering undergrad and asking my opinion on MD vs pharmD. I can only give my n=1 perspective, anything I can know about the pharm side of things?

Pharmacy school is a lot less competitive than medical school. A pharmacy degree can be obtained in 4 years (1 year intense CC + 3 year accelerated program) where a medical degree is at least 11 years therefore "having similar training years" is not accurate. NAPLEX is a walk in the park compared to USMLE 1,2,3 and let's not even talk about residency matching. The pay difference is less between the two careers after you account for federal income tax and the time value of money.

I would tell your friend to avoid medicine and go into programming where you can make 140k USD + with no degree at all. Both pharmD and MD/DO are shrinking degrees. They should be looking at PA, NP, CRNA if looking at medical degrees.

 

[TerryTerry]

Just tell them to go do pharmacy. Within couple years, you can get rid of them if you don`t want them to be your friends anymore. Pharmacy school has its use after all.

 

[Rouelle]

Become an electrician.

 

[samven582]

I have a pharmacist buddy who did 4 yr pharm school, two 1yr residencies and now works in a hospital 1.5 hour drive from the center of a major city (it’s a rural location essentially). Fortunately he had parents pay for school so has no debt. I am however...shocked when he told me his pay is $57/hr.
Meanwhile, I did 4 yr med school, 3 yr residency and have been in practice as a hospitalist. For fun I called up his exact hospital to inquire about moonlighting opportunity and they actually have a full time hospitalist opening that pays 200/hr (requires icu coverage though)...

what is up with the discrepancy? Is pharmacy school + work that much more chill vs becoming a physician, to justify the pay gap despite having similar training years? Does pharm school cost less?

i have a family friend entering undergrad and asking my opinion on MD vs pharmD. I can only give my n=1 perspective, anything I can know about the pharm side of things?

At my pervious hospital, a lot of the staff pharmacists were making $10 dollars or more than your friend and are happy just being staff. Your friend is being ripped off.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

No comparison.

ROI of MD/DO > PharmD by a landslide.

 

[mentos]

Become an electrician.

I just paid one $600 for an easy 2 hour job. He was the only guy I could get to show up.

 

[wamcp]

No comparison.

ROI of MD/DO > PharmD by a landslide.

If true...are most pharm students today only in for it becsuse they truly love the material? Basically I should tell my fam friend only pick pharm if it’s what you really enjoy? Are there unique aspects of your day to day job that really makes you happy which could not happen in other healthcare work?

 

[Pronounce Doxazosin]

If true...are most pharm students today only in for it becsuse they truly love the material? Basically I should tell my fam friend only pick pharm if it’s what you really enjoy? Are there aspects of your day to day job that really makes you happy which could not happen in other healthcare work?

People still do pharmacy because at the end of the day, it still offers a chance for above-average paying job.

Now, people should also realize that the market is extremely saturated and because of the saturation, pay is going down.

 

[radio frequency]

If true...are most pharm students today only in for it becsuse they truly love the material? Basically I should tell my fam friend only pick pharm if it’s what you really enjoy? Are there unique aspects of your day to day job that really makes you happy which could not happen in other healthcare work?

Tell them not to pick pharmacy.

I make great money at a better than average pharmacy job. But I’m stashing it all away because the days where I can do this are probably numbered based on market conditions.

I don’t know what will happen when the gravy train stops rolling, but I know I won’t be making what I’m making now. This is likely not a scenario an MD ever has to plan for.

 

[wamcp]

Tell them not to pick pharmacy.

I make great money at a better than average pharmacy job. But I’m stashing it all away because the days where I can do this are probably numbered based on market conditions.

I don’t know what will happen when the gravy train stops rolling, but I know I won’t be making what I’m making now. This is likely not a scenario an MD ever has to plan for.

Fair enough. It just seems interesting to me why folks would continue to pursue pharmacy if it really is that doom and gloom, when other perhaps seemingly “still good paying” non-MD healthcare work exists (NP, PA, podiatry, dental, PT/OT optometry etc).
A quick search shows pharm grads still increasing unless i’m wrong

Edit- nvm, total schools had somehow increased 2018 to 2019 but enrollments dropped 3.1%

 

[Momus]

Fair enough. It just seems interesting to me why folks would continue to pursue pharmacy if it really is that doom and gloom, when other perhaps seemingly “still good paying” non-MD healthcare work exists (NP, PA, podiatry, dental, PT/OT optometry etc).
A quick search shows pharm grads still increasing unless i’m wrong

Edit- nvm, total schools had somehow increased 2018 to 2019 but enrollments dropped 3.1%

They are all first rate dummies. Uninformed about the job markets.

More than 50% are pretty much guaranteed underemployed/unemployed at this point.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

If true...are most pharm students today only in for it becsuse they truly love the material? Basically I should tell my fam friend only pick pharm if it’s what you really enjoy? Are there unique aspects of your day to day job that really makes you happy which could not happen in other healthcare work?

They do pharm because they're too scared to do medicine....ultimately this is a 6 figure salary and a somewhat stable job (at least it was in the past) that earns you a doctorate in 4 years. The % of people that truly love the work are very slim.

 

[deleted562805]

Fair enough. It just seems interesting to me why folks would continue to pursue pharmacy if it really is that doom and gloom, when other perhaps seemingly “still good paying” non-MD healthcare work exists (NP, PA, podiatry, dental, PT/OT optometry etc).
A quick search shows pharm grads still increasing unless i’m wrong

Edit- nvm, total schools had somehow increased 2018 to 2019 but enrollments dropped 3.1%

Well, those students believe that there is more job growth in clinical hospital pharmacy which is why they are applying to pharmacy. They are drinking the koolaid that residency opens doors and we are more than just counting by fives. They believe they are clinicians. They want a glorified hospital job without touching people and dealing with blood.

Little do they realize that majority of the jobs are in retail. there is no job growth in the hospital sector. Residency seats are extremely limited, hiring freezes are happening, residents are struggling to get hospital jobs and end up in retail, and furloughs for existing pharmacists

 

[spacecowgirl]

This dichotomy has always puzzled me. These jobs are not two sides of the same coin, or even the same dodecahedron, and thus should attract very different people.

 

[wazoodog]

I think almost anyone would say if the person can get into both, go into medicine. Med school is much harder to get into than Pharm school. There was a brief period in the early to mid 2000s when admission into pharm school could have been considered as selective as med school admission in some cases ("transferring" into a 0-6 program as a 3rd year - now referred to as P1, or admission into the most selective pharm schools, etc.) but that was also when there were less than 80 or 90 pharmacy schools in the country.

During school days, my friend graduated with an undergrad degree at a well respected state university and applied to the university's own med school. Didn't get in and ended up transferring into my school as one of the rare 3rd year (P1) transfer students amongst a majority of 0-6 kids who entered straight from high school. During her first year in pharmacy school, she reapplied to a different med school (Columbia) and was accepted. Ultimately, she decided to stick with pharmacy as life changes happen and minds change. Now, the friend is happily married to a pharmacy classmate with kids and all, quite successful (and satisfied) with her career - but she's also not in one of the pure traditional pharmacist roles.

It's likely she'd still be making more money as a physician, and she would still have been able to go into her current role as a physician (probably at more pay). That said, I guess she saved on time since she didn't do any residencies or fellowships and is pretty happy with life anyway. With dual income from her pharmacist husband, I guess it evens out with a hospitalist who might be married to someone with no income.

Moral of the story - most likely someone who could get into med school and be successful and happy will probably find a way to do so from pharmacy school too. However, not knowing what life throws at you, I'd say med school over pharm school.

 

[Marzapan]

This dichotomy has always puzzled me. These jobs are not two sides of the same coin, or even the same dodecahedron, and thus should attract very different people.

I think it's because people have a perception that pharmacy is basically "medicine minus all the negative aspects of medicine."

If you think of the reasons why people do pharmacy...

- "I can help people without having to deal with blood or guts"

- "I don't need to go to school/training as long as medical school"

-Better "work life balance" than a doctor

 

[WVUPharm2007]

No comparison.

ROI of MD/DO > PharmD by a landslide.

Only if you compare direct salaries. If you start maxing out 401k, Roth, and HSA when you graduate at age 24...that extra decade of savings can result in millions of dollars.

 

[rxkrafted]

At my pervious hospital, a lot of the staff pharmacists were making $10 dollars or more than your friend and are happy just being staff. Your friend is being ripped off.

What hospital is paying $67+/hr (assuming not California)? Even the senior pharmacists at my hospital don't make past low 60s after 15+ years invested because they cap the maximum. I don't think $57/hr in a hospital setting is being ripped off unless he dedicated over 15 years or so already.

 

[TateThePharmacist]

Fair enough. It just seems interesting to me why folks would continue to pursue pharmacy if it really is that doom and gloom, when other perhaps seemingly “still good paying” non-MD healthcare work exists (NP, PA, podiatry, dental, PT/OT optometry etc).
A quick search shows pharm grads still increasing unless i’m wrong

Edit- nvm, total schools had somehow increased 2018 to 2019 but enrollments dropped 3.1%

Post this exact same question but aimed at those forums. I've lurked on those forums and it's all doom and gloom on them too.

 

[wamcp]

Only if you compare direct salaries. If you start maxing out 401k, Roth, and HSA when you graduate at age 24...that extra decade of savings can result in millions of dollars.

I don’t think that’s a fair comparison, as I went to a 6 year combined BS/MD program and finished internal med residency by 27. I’m 30 yo today. Of course, my path is likely much more stressful and med school demands more sacrifices than a pharmD route.

But even versus a theoretical pharm headstart by a couple years, I have already generated cumulative 1.5 million in W2 earnings thanks to lucrative moonlighting...340k loans paid off (wife plus mine), our house was just paid off which i bought earlier this year. Our net worth (which includes the house) now sits at 1.4 million thanks to 401k match, 457b, hsa employer contributions etc, and especially stock trading. And no my wife is not an attending yet, still making crappy fellow salary

that being said I am lucky I graduated “early”. Thanks to the pandemic the hospitalist job market is near saturated where I am and moonlighting is no longer readily available. I am likely stuck on 10 night shifts a month at 250k base pay for the near future

 

[deleted562805]

I don’t think that’s a fair comparison, as I went to a 6 year combined BS/MD program and finished internal med residency by 27. I’m 30 yo today. Of course, my path is likely much more stressful and med school demands more sacrifices than a pharmD route.

But even versus a theoretical pharm headstart by a couple years, I have already generated cumulative 1.5 million in W2 earnings thanks to lucrative moonlighting...340k loans paid off (wife plus mine), our house was just paid off which i bought earlier this year. Our net worth (which includes the house) now sits at 1.4 million thanks to 401k match, 457b, hsa employer contributions etc, and especially stock trading. And no my wife is not an attending yet, still making crappy fellow salary

that being said I am lucky I graduated “early”. Thanks to the pandemic the hospitalist job market is near saturated where I am and moonlighting is no longer readily available. I am likely stuck on 10 night shifts a month at 250k base pay for the near future

I agree with you. How many new grads in pharmacy from 2017 can have their house paid off and 200k loans paid off? When they were earning $50/hr to $55/hr. Plus “pharmacy residents” don’t get paid extra to moonlight nor is there any option to do so in most programs.

For your friend, medicine hands down is better than pharmacy. But if I was your friend, I would look at Nursing or PA programs because the job growth is higher in those jobs for the next ten years compared to medicine or pharmacy

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Only if you compare direct salaries. If you start maxing out 401k, Roth, and HSA when you graduate at age 24...that extra decade of savings can result in millions of dollars.

Sure but it's not a decade... this example there was a 1 year difference for a salary increase of 4 fold.

Regardless, there is no way a pharmd will get close to earning potential of a physician. Even with a 5/10 yr headstart on various savings accounts; MD >PharmD.

 

[radio frequency]

I think it's because people have a perception that pharmacy is basically "medicine minus all the negative aspects of medicine."

If you think of the reasons why people do pharmacy...

- "I can help people without having to deal with blood or guts"

- "I don't need to go to school/training as long as medical school"

-Better "work life balance" than a doctor

The work life balance stuff is a joke though. That may be true for residency years, but beyond those, work-life balance for many MDs is not bad. And their hours are better than mine (at least where I work). And I know for a fact that my hours are better than many pharmacists’.

 

[radio frequency]

I don’t think that’s a fair comparison, as I went to a 6 year combined BS/MD program and finished internal med residency by 27. I’m 30 yo today. Of course, my path is likely much more stressful and med school demands more sacrifices than a pharmD route.

But even versus a theoretical pharm headstart by a couple years, I have already generated cumulative 1.5 million in W2 earnings thanks to lucrative moonlighting...340k loans paid off (wife plus mine), our house was just paid off which i bought earlier this year. Our net worth (which includes the house) now sits at 1.4 million thanks to 401k match, 457b, hsa employer contributions etc, and especially stock trading. And no my wife is not an attending yet, still making crappy fellow salary

that being said I am lucky I graduated “early”. Thanks to the pandemic the hospitalist job market is near saturated where I am and moonlighting is no longer readily available. I am likely stuck on 10 night shifts a month at 250k base pay for the near future

Yep. I took the wrong route.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I don’t think that’s a fair comparison, as I went to a 6 year combined BS/MD program and finished internal med residency by 27. I’m 30 yo today. Of course, my path is likely much more stressful and med school demands more sacrifices than a pharmD route.

But even versus a theoretical pharm headstart by a couple years, I have already generated cumulative 1.5 million in W2 earnings thanks to lucrative moonlighting...340k loans paid off (wife plus mine), our house was just paid off which i bought earlier this year. Our net worth (which includes the house) now sits at 1.4 million thanks to 401k match, 457b, hsa employer contributions etc, and especially stock trading. And no my wife is not an attending yet, still making crappy fellow salary

that being said I am lucky I graduated “early”. Thanks to the pandemic the hospitalist job market is near saturated where I am and moonlighting is no longer readily available. I am likely stuck on 10 night shifts a month at 250k base pay for the near future

OK, well, obviously if you are the rare person that gets all that done by age 27, you'd be well ahead of everyone.

 

[APN-59 rph]

OK, well, obviously if you are the rare person that gets all that done by age 27, you'd be well ahead of everyone.

I suppose that all of these amazing feats are possible...but I would suspect a back story...Out of H.S. at 18...medical training at maybe 25 ish..and a multimillionaire by 27....I wonder if he needs a lawn boy?

 

[TranslationalRPh]

OK, well, obviously if you are the rare person that gets all that done by age 27, you'd be well ahead of everyone.

I assume he saved 2 years but even if he finished residency by 29, that's stiil a great salary at 29 and it wouldn't take too long to "catch up" and then surpass, if desired.

 

[samven582]

What hospital is paying $67+/hr (assuming not California)? Even the senior pharmacists at my hospital don't make past low 60s after 15+ years invested because they cap the maximum. I don't think $57/hr in a hospital setting is being ripped off unless he dedicated over 15 years or so already.

NYC, Big 4 (NYU, Sinai, NYP, Monti). Unions here are very strong.

 

[radio frequency]

What hospital is paying $67+/hr (assuming not California)? Even the senior pharmacists at my hospital don't make past low 60s after 15+ years invested because they cap the maximum. I don't think $57/hr in a hospital setting is being ripped off unless he dedicated over 15 years or so already.

My hospital pays this. Not California. Or NY.

 

[rxkrafted]

My hospital pays this. Not California. Or NY.

Your hospital pays $67 without many years invested already? I'm just curious because I wonder what the cap is then?

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I assume he saved 2 years but even if he finished residency by 29, that's stiil a great salary at 29 and it wouldn't take too long to "catch up" and then surpass, if desired.

True. I suppose some MDs get done faster than I assumed. The physicians I know weren't "making the big bucks" until well into their 30s. If you can get all of that done in your 20s, kudos, you'll easily be a multimillionaire unless you blow it all.

 

[wamcp]

I suppose that all of these amazing feats are possible...but I would suspect a back story...Out of H.S. at 18...medical training at maybe 25 ish..and a multimillionaire by 27....I wonder if he needs a lawn boy?

Not much backstory...although 6 yr bs/md will be much more rare now. Back when i was a student there is/was NEOMED, UMKC, Pennstate etc.

I’m definitely not a multimillionaire, yet. I’m 30 not 27. Only crossed 1 mil net worth this year. And 500k of net worth gains over the past 12 months were from stock trading.
Some of my classmates today make more than me too.

 

[TranslationalRPh]

True. I suppose some MDs get done faster than I assumed. The physicians I know weren't "making the big bucks" until well into their 30s. If you can get all of that done in your 20s, kudos, you'll easily be a multimillionaire unless you blow it all.

Fair point, I assume if one does >1 residency, a residency and then a fellowship, or if residency is >3 years (don't know if that is a thing), that would put one in the 30s.